Late Nights
by OnceUponAShipper
Summary: Some nights, after working all day and running around after their kids, Emma and Regina just fall asleep. But, on nights like these, they do more than that. It's not exactly what you think. SwanQueen and lots of fluff!


Every night was the same routine: feed the twins, rock them to sleep, read to Dani, wait with her until she was asleep, put pajamas on, brush teeth, and crash on the bed. For Emma and Regina, this was their life. Their whole lives had changed dramatically in the course of just three years; time just seemed to be speeding faster and faster. Dani had just turned three, the twins were seven months old, and Henry was already halfway through college.

* * *

If Regina had the energy, she'd read before falling asleep. If Emma had the energy, she'd annoy her wife the best she could and distract her from her book. When neither of them had strength left, lights were off and they were unconscious in seconds.

One night, however, both of them were awake. For an unexplainable reason, they hadn't dozed off yet. Regina sat up against the headboard, her dark, red reading glasses rested on the crook of her nose. Emma was half-sitting, half-lying against the pillows, her elbow supporting her. She observed as the brunette next to her turned the pages swiftly; she never spent more than a minute on each. Regina licked her fingers with each turn, her eyes glued to the printed words. As Emma watched, she couldn't understand how she'd gotten so lucky. She had a gorgeous wife, four incredible kids, a stable job, and comfortable home. They were all the things she loved, that she never knew she wanted.

"Gina?" Emma asked quietly as she searched the woman's face.

"Yes, dear?" Regina answered distractedly.

"Your beauty's distracting me," the blonde teased and ran a finger up Regina's arm.

The mayor tried to hide her smile as she flipped through another page. "My apologies. Is there something I can do to fix that?"

Emma moved in closer and rested her head on her hand. "There _is_ one thing," she purred.

Regina slid her glasses up and tossed the book onto her night stand. She slid down further until she was face-to-face with Emma. "And that would be?"

With a solemn expression, Emma answered plainly, "To talk."

Caught off-guard at Emma's innocent request, Regina tilted her head to the side. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"To talk," Emma repeated. "Then, maybe, you know," she winked.

"All right, what would you like to talk about then?" Regina asked crisply.

"It's not gonna be any fun if you sound like a robot," Emma complained.

Regina scoffed and folded her arms, "Forgive me, but I wasn't expecting such a mundane request." When the corners of Emma's mouth turned upside-down, Regina's tone softened. "I'm sorry. Emma, what are you thinking about?"

Emma fidgeted with her hands and shrugged. "Never mind. Let's just have sex."

Regina let out a hearty laugh, "Emma, could you sound any more bored? Really, I want to know what you had to say." She shimmied down even lower until she and Emma were touching noses. With a loving hand, she caressed Emma's cheek and stared deep into those entrancing, green spheres.

"I just wanted to tell you I love you." Emma's voice sounded as meek as a five year-old in trouble.

"As I love you," Regina responded. "Was there more?"

"And I love our family," Emma added. Draping an arm over Regina's hip, Emma kissed her wife gently. "I love the life we've built together."

Regina smiled under Emma's touch. "I'll never understand what I've done to deserve all of this, but I'm forever grateful for it."

"I can't believe it's already been 10 years since I came here," Emma breathed. In those 10 years, she'd found her parents, fought dragons, had her heart nearly ripped out, watched the father of her child die, kissed the mayor and former Evil Queen, sailed to Neverland, and... fallen head-over-heels in love.

Regina noted every crinkle in Emma's forehead, the laugh lines in her cheeks, the fading scar by corner of her eye, and the tiny wisps of gray in the blonde's hair. When she looked in the mirror, Regina, too, could see the effects of the years. After never aging for almost three decades, Regina was pleasantly surprised to see the changes in her appearance. "I can't imagine my life without you, Emma." It was the truth. As much as Regina had gotten used to living just her and Henry, she couldn't fathom going back to the way it was. "You were my knight in shining armor," she chuckled.

"And you were my Queen. God, can you believe Henry's 21? He's only a week away from 22! And I'm... Jesus, I'm almost 40!" Emma threw her hands over her face, embarrassed at the thought of turning the dreaded 40 years-old.

"I don't know what you're complaining about, Emma. Technically, I should be a couple hundreds years old, at least." Regina pulled Emma's hand away from her face and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Do you remember when we told my parents about us?" Emma smiled at the memory.

"How in the world could I forget? Your father looked as if he wanted to draw his sword and pointed it at my chest."

"I'd never seen him so... stunned. Mom had a temper tantrum."

"Yes, your mother always had a flair for thematics."

"Says the woman who used to make her grand entrance in a swirl of purple smoke!" Regina threw her head back in laughter- genuine laughter. "And then they didn't say a word to me for two weeks. Two whole weeks, and not even a text! It wasn't because they found out I liked women, either!"

"You're right. It's because they found out you liked the Evil Queen. What ever happened to that title, anyway?"

Regina rested her head on Emma's chest while the blonde rubbed her shoulders. "I think that disappeared when people saw us kissing on your doorstep."

The two women exhaled contentedly, their trip down memory lane exerted the last of their stamina. "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, Emma. I know that, everyone knows it. But, this, what we have, I wouldn't trade it for the world. Not even magic." Regina hadn't used her magic since binding Dani's powers. And, before that, using it to heal Emma.

"That's good, Gina, 'cause there's no way you're getting out of it now. I mean we're married wit four kids, so," Emma joked as she gave the woman's shoulders an affectionate squeeze. "I love you, babe. That's all I really wanted to say."

Regina twisted her neck enough to give Emma another kiss. "I love you, too." They held onto each other, their lips interlocked and their arms all over each other. Emma clicked off the light, ready to resume her event with Regina. Ok, so maybe they had _some_ energy left. Before they could get too serious, the couple jumped suddenly as crying cut through the baby monitor. "Both of them," Regina moaned. Emma turned the light back on as they pushed themselves out of bed. The two of them shuffled down the hallway and into the nursery and scooped a baby in each arm. As they changed August and Dakota's diapers, Regina nodded firmly. "Still wouldn't trade this for anything."


End file.
